Just because she was officially rebuked, she hasn’t backed down. Sister Donna Quinn, the Chicago Roman Catholic nun who was reprimanded last month for her years of work volunteering as an abortion clinic escort, is still backing women’s rights.

Because of the tremendous work done in the 60s and 70s, my generation can sit around and have conversations about our feelings about abortion. But we need to remember that what matters politically is the legal right to have an abortion, without which these conversations are moot.

Catholic tradition influenced Ted Kennedy the Senator and the man. But he did not wear his religion on his sleeve, instead grounding his commitment in the experiences of the poor, immigrants, women, LGBT persons and others.